


wasteland, baby!

by divine_chicken



Category: Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: M/M, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-23 07:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23008204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divine_chicken/pseuds/divine_chicken
Summary: little shared moments in an abandoned cathedral.
Relationships: Sephiran/Zelgius (Fire Emblem)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	wasteland, baby!

They don't really have a lot of time together anymore, not when the rusty clock of war has been finally set in motion - but sometimes, if rarely, they make do with the little time they're given alone, and they fall asleep next to each other when given the chance.  
(Sometimes, that chance is called an urgent meeting with Begnion's finest general over the army rations, the weaponry and whatnot, though the urgency of sharing your loneliness with someone is much more pressing, one would think.)

Sephiran walks through the forest as if he is the forest, somehow navigating through the intimidating elderly trees with ease, footsteps so gentle they don't scare the hares trotting alongside him. His hand is placed in Zelgius's as he guides him, the only part of his body that isn't covered in pitch black armor - the rest of it clanks through the forest, and he'd be ever so unbelonging in it, had the eternal nature any intent to care about someone so ephemeral. 

Sephiran's enigmatic smile widens when they finally reach the clearing, the ruins of the temple still there, grey and soft and unmoving.

" What is this place?" Zelgius asks, and Sephiran guides him towards the entrance.

" They won't find us here," he whispers, kissing his hand, the little expanse of warm skin he has left, and he looks away from him as they enter the temple, long hair flowing behind him.

It is so, so very dead silent - the mere sound of their breathing feels like a disruption of the serenity reigning over the building. There are no animals either, almost as if they can feel the holiness of what this place once was. Somewhere in the corners there is dust of what used to be an offering in the shape of a flower.   
The ceiling has collapsed in more than one place, sunlight cracking through the gaps, and the altar still stands, and so do the statues that once were, only sometimes a limb or more is not attached to them, instead laying on the floor beneath them.

" Sephiran..."

" Lehran."

" How old is this building?"

" It was old when I was still young," he responds, his gaze shifting to the decaying murals of the Goddess Of Dawn and the Zunanma, as she smiles at them benevolently. Then, he gently guides Zelgius to a mural on the opposite side of the cathedral.

" You see this?"

" Hm?"

" This building was not in Tellius," Lehran whispers, his nimble fingers hovering over the flaky paint.   
" It was a castle, in an icy land far, far away from the continent. They said it was made of crystals, the entirety of it, and that it guarded by the fiercest guards who'd watch over their queen."   
He sighs longingly then, possibly for the world that once was.  
" Of course, the crystal was ice, and the guards were the glaciers, but it's a charming interpretation."

" And this?" Zelgius asks, pointing to a carved snake surrounding the entirety of the wall's expanse.  
" The river that separated the continents," he responds, tracing it almost tenderly. " It had a different name in every continent, too. The people of the ice land called it Isa, whilst we called it Pomis..." He shifts to smile at him.  
" I wish I could show you the world back then," he admits.  
" Tellius is gorgeous, but... It all used to be so full of life, Zelgius. So many different beauties to experience, so many worships, languages, people..."

"... Listening to you speak about it is more than enough to me," he whispers, and Lehran's hand lingers on the small of his back before he leans up to kiss him with unspoken tenderness. For a moment, nothing breathes, nothing moves, and they share their breath as they make use of what little time they have together before the world starts again. They part, and the sunlight forms a halo around Lehran's head, and as Zelgius pulls him in for a deeper kiss, he can swear he could hear a choir's singing somewhere far away in the deafening silence, and he finds himself wondering if he could ever worship the gods they showed the way he worships these small, shared moments. 

The sunlight shines upon the mural, too, and the ancient Goddess's eyes watch them benevolently. The world will have to keep going, and they'll have to come back down soon.  
But for a moment, they're alone. And for a moment, it's alright.


End file.
